


February 14th

by wildeisms



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Klaus Hargreeves & David "Dave" Katz During Vietnam, M/M, Valentine's Day, Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildeisms/pseuds/wildeisms
Summary: Klaus had never really thought much about Valentine's Day. It had never really been acknowledged when he was a kid - beyond one awkward interview and photo shoot when he was sixteen and had been in an incredibly heterosexual Valentine’s special edition of some teen magazine alongside his brothers - and as an adult, he rarely knew what day of the week it was anyway, let alone the date.Klaus’s first Valentine’s Day with someone he loves.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	February 14th

**Author's Note:**

> It is technically no longer Valentine’s Day for me as I post this, but depending on your time zone I might have made it in time. Anyway, please enjoy this mix of pain and klave love.

Klaus had never really thought much about Valentine's Day. It had never really been acknowledged when he was a kid - beyond one awkward interview and photo shoot when he was sixteen and had been in an incredibly heterosexual Valentine’s special edition of some teen magazine alongside his brothers - and as an adult, he rarely knew what day of the week it was anyway, let alone the date.

It wasn’t as if he needed the holiday. He wasn’t the type of person who people bought flowers and chocolates for, and he definitely wasn’t the type of person anyone would show off in public over a fancy dinner. His biggest exposure to Valentine’s Day came through watching his sister’s movies and encountering a particularly trashy rom-com set around the holiday, and from shoplifting heart shaped chocolates. It didn’t seem like he was missing out on that much, in all honesty. It was just another way for people to make money from couples and for couples to bribe each other into sex. 

Sure, he was a little cynical about the whole thing. But it was hard not to be when he’d seen so many supposedly happily married men hit him up on the Saturday and go celebrate Valentine’s Day with their wives on the Sunday, seen the store displays of pink and red everything taking the money of people who were simply trying to buy sexual favours or more time of being with their current partner, seen all the ways in which it could be an insubstantial celebration of empty relationships. It was hard not to be when he sometimes wondered if it would be nice to fall in love and be one of the few to have Valentine’s Day used as an  _ excuse _ to treat him rather than an obligation to do so. But that was a stupid thought and he knew it would never happen. People didn’t fall in love with guys like him. They might think they were falling for him, but if he ever let them get close enough, they’d soon realise that he wasn’t fucked up in a pretty way. He wasn’t tragic yet beautiful, he was just messy and crazy and way too much to handle. 

So Klaus didn’t have much experience with Valentine’s Day.

But it was impossible to forget it entirely when in such close quarters with other men, many of whom were missing their wives and girlfriends back home. And he didn’t want to forget it when, for the first time in his life, he understood what people meant when they said they’d found their other half. 

It wasn’t like they could actually celebrate, not really. At least some of the people around them knew - or had guessed - that he and Dave were a little more than just close friends, but they kept up the pretense on all sides. It was for Dave’s sake more than anything; he was a good man (the best man Klaus had ever known, the most beautiful and kind and honest man) and a good soldier. And they needed as many soldiers as they could get. Hell, they were even letting Klaus stay, and he was, well,  _ Klaus _ .

But even if they couldn’t celebrate properly, Klaus was determined to find an excuse to disappear with Dave and steal a kiss and a whispered promise. He had even folded a strip of paper into a little origami star to give him - he’d refused to admit learning origami had been not only enjoyable but helpful in keeping his hands busy and part of his mind occupied when he was in rehab, and having an excuse to use the skill again was welcome. It was hardly an extravagant gift, but there was something symbolic in creating and giving when so much of Klaus’s past was marked by destroying and taking. 

They no longer needed words to communicate their intentions. A raised eyebrow, a sidelong glance, a gaze fixed on the others lips before darting a look towards the door, and a private rendezvous was arranged. By this point, almost nine months together, they knew all the private spots and all the best moments to vanish unnoticed.

When Klaus joined Dave almost half a mile from their camp, the first thing Dave did was kiss him. Even after all this time, it still filled Klaus with the same rush of affection and the hint of giddy joy that felt like how he imagined first kisses were supposed to go if you were normal. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Klaus murmured when they broke apart.

“Is this your way of asking me to be your Valentine?”

“You mean you’re not already?” Klaus asked as he brought his hand to his heart in faux indignance. 

Dave laughed that beautiful, heart-melting laugh. “I’ll be your Valentine, but only if you’re mine.”

“I’m always yours.”

“I love you, you know that?” Dave sighed, his fingers finding their home in Klaus’s hair as they settled back against a tree together. 

“I know, and I love you too.” And that, in itself, was a miracle. Klaus had never said ‘I love you’ as often in twenty-nine years as he had during these months with Dave. He’d never felt so much love either. “I made you this.” He pulled the little origami star out of his pocket. It wasn’t perfectly shaped and it was a little crushed, but Dave was looking at it as if it was the most valuable thing in the world. 

“I love it,” Dave murmured, then turned his head slightly to look Klaus in the eyes. “As for your gift… it’s kinda gotta be a delayed one. And you don’t have to accept it, but I wanna offer it anyway.” Dave took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, as if steeling himself. “When this tour’s over, I wanna buy you a house. Buy  _ us _ a house. I just- I think you deserve a proper home, one that feels good and safe and where you’re loved, even if it’s only behind closed doors. And I wanna be part of that.”

Holy shit. Klaus couldn’t even think of some kind of witty joke, he was so speechless. “You wanna live with me?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Even if people might figure us out? I mean, two guys living together-”

“I don’t care. Let them think what they wanna think. I wanna be with you. I can’t- The thought of ever being with anyone else just seems  _ wrong _ now.”

“You know, Dave, this is starting to sound more and more like a proposal than anything else,” Klaus teased. He hoped Dave could tell how much it meant to him, how Dave’s bravery and love and affection meant the absolute world to him.

“If I could marry you, I’d’ve got down on one knee already.”

Klaus blinked, his eyes welling up with sudden tears. How? How could this be real, how could Dave be real? He’d told him more than he’d ever dared tell anyone else and yet here he still was. Dave wasn’t disgusted by him. He thought he was not only the kind of person worth loving but the kind of person worth  _ marrying _ , and it was only the law stopping him.

Sometimes, he wished he could take Dave back to 2019 with him. Even if he was just a homeless junkie whore there, at least Dave could feel safe. He wouldn’t have to hide quite so much of himself from the world. They could live and love openly, maybe even get married, as insane a thought as that was. Only he didn’t know how the damn case worked. What if he disappeared and didn’t manage to take Dave with him? What if it took him somewhere else, somewhere worse? It was too risky. Klaus would rather endure the secrecy and the risk than take a chance on making things worse or separating the two of them. He belonged with Dave, and the when and where didn’t matter. As cliche as it felt to even think it, his heart and Dave’s were joined together. 

Five days later, when a bullet ripped through Dave’s chest, Klaus knew without a doubt that he had been right; his heart had been torn apart too.

**Author's Note:**

> It hit me today that Dave died less than a week after Valentine’s Day so join me in my suffering. If you’d like a fix-it, check out my other fic Revived and Reunited.


End file.
